Over the past four months, Serbia’s students have effectively challenged the entrenched corruption and state-sponsored violence that have defined President Aleksandar Vucic and his party’s grip on power. Representatives of Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party, the ruling party, including those who serve in the government, have colluded with criminals, blackmailed voters, and threatened those seeking justice.
The students have marched across the country to counter the state-controlled media’s propaganda and to dispel fears of persecution and retaliation, which have long stifled dissent. As a result, thousand of Serbian citizens have taken to the streets to welcome the students and express their unheard grievances, including by storming into municipal buildings to demand accountability from local representatives.
Over the past four months, Serbia’s students have effectively challenged the entrenched corruption and state-sponsored violence that have defined President Aleksandar Vucic and his party’s grip on power. Representatives of Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party, the ruling party, including those who serve in the government, have colluded with criminals, blackmailed voters, and threatened those seeking justice.
The students have marched across the country to counter the state-controlled media’s propaganda and to dispel fears of persecution and retaliation, which have long stifled dissent. As a result, thousand of Serbian citizens have taken to the streets to welcome the students and express their unheard grievances, including by storming into municipal buildings to demand accountability from local representatives.
We feel compelled to challenge the statements made in Aleks Eror’s article “Street Protests Aren’t Enough to Transform Serbia,” which was published in Foreign Policy on March 7.
Contrary to Eror’s appraisal, the students’ strategies have already achieved success in garnering public support by demonstrably adjusting to the circumstances. It is particularly impressive how the students have prioritized substance over form by demanding institutional accountability and asking the citizens to commit to the values on which the system should be based prior to moving forward.
This is why Eror’s statement that “leaning on the constitution in a sham democracy with weak institutions is a debate club argument that does nothing to advance the protest’s aims in a practical way” is both inaccurate and dismissive. This is the core of what the students are determined to achieve: respect for the constitution and the rule of law by everyone. The students have created indelible images as part of their effort—they even ran a marathon across the country with the Serbian Constitution in hand to remind the nation of its paramount value.
The students have also created bonds between ethnic and religious communities within Serbia that have not been seen for decades, which has impressed the people of Serbia, as well as citizens of Slovenia and Croatia. For example, reports about a warm welcome extended by students from Novi Pazar, a predominantly Muslim religion, to their peers from other cities—images of joint prayers followed by statements made by the students from Novi Pazar that this was the first time they felt equal to other Serbian citizens—suffice to dispel any doubts about what the students stand for.
At the same time, Eror’s article glosses over the state’s violence toward the students and Serbian citizens by describing the ruling party as “the only real organized political force in Serbia.” The ruling party engaged party-affiliated individuals to physically attack peaceful student protesters, including running over them with cars, while the government outright justified such attacks.
In the past, too, the ruling party relied on threats to corral people to its rallies and failed to generate genuine support. Moreover, it has intimidated those who seek justice. Six years ago, it mobilized a mob outside a courthouse to harass a grieving family seeking justice for the death of their son due to unsafe working conditions. Finally, it was abhorrent violence that led to Prime Minister Milos Vucevic’s resignation in January. The ruling party is hardly an organized political force; it is the embodiment of violent disorder.
Lastly, previous demonstrations in Serbia have not been about “academic issues.” In fact, the largest protests in recent history were responses to state-sponsored violence. In 2016, protests erupted after, under the acknowledged leadership of the present government, masked men stormed into a Belgrade district under the cover of night to demolish homes to make way for a lucrative real estate development known as the “Belgrade Waterfront,” all while the police ignored the residents’ calls for help.
Last year, there were protests against lithium mining and the opening of a state-backed mine in the Jadar valley, which led to the groundless arrests of villagers. Serbia has also seen countless protests over fundamental issues, including against the manifestly distortive and biased reporting conducted by Radio Television of Serbia, the country’s public broadcasting service. These are evidently not “bourgeois concern[s].”
The students’ demands have been clear from the onset—namely, the disclosure of information necessary to establish what led to the tragedy in Novi Sad, in which the collapse of a canopy at a railway station resulted in the deaths of 15 people, and that all responsible be held accountable.
While electoral participation remains a crucial tool for democratic change, the student movement understands that true transformation requires more than participating in a rigged system. Their strategy extends beyond elections—they are mobilizing citizens, demanding institutional accountability, and reshaping public discourse. Whether it is through continued protests or imaginative advocacy, the students in Serbia have already proven their ability to challenge the status quo and resist an autocratic system.
This is no easy endeavor. On March 15, security forces allegedly used a long-range sonic weapon against the students and citizens as they participated in one of the largest peaceful rallies in Belgrade in decades. While the launch of this illegal weapon was a surprise, the government’s treacherous use of force was not. The students responded by asking everyone to move to safety and successfully de-escalated the tensions felt by hundreds of thousands of people.
This remarkable achievement clearly demonstrates the credibility and confidence that the students possess within Serbia. The students remind us that societies are not compelled to repeat inadequate approaches to achieve paramount goals. David’s triumph over Goliath taught us that it takes courage—combined with an unconventional strategy—to overcome the odds.
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